Articles

Listening to Our Animals

October 2003

Lucy was terrified of bridges. She tensed up as soon as she and her human turned the corner toward the little bridge that crossed the creek three blocks from their home. The closer they got to the bridge, the more she shook and panted. Arriving at the bridge, she locked her gigantic Great Dane legs and wouldn’t budge. She cried hysterically until her human turned and walked them both away from the bridge. Lucy’s human was a petite soft-spoken woman who was beside herself when Lucy went into this panic mode. There was no coaxing, prodding, or soothing Lucy anywhere near a bridge.

Lucy had been with her human since she was 10 weeks old and had always exhibited this behavior around the bridges they encountered on walks. In the past, Lucy’s human mom had simply modified where they walked to avoid bridges. However, a few months before meeting me they had moved to a neighborhood where the only flat area to walk had a small bridge that went over a creek.

Lucy’s human brought Lucy to see me so she could better understand this behavior and to see how she could help. I asked Lucy to tell me why bridges were so scary to her. She immediately showed me what looked like an old Disney movie of a man in a tattered raincoat and hat, standing at the side of a creek. The man was carrying a worn sack filled with meowing kittens. The man then proceeded to drown the kittens in the creek. Lucy was very traumatized by seeing this and now feared either she would see something like this again, or she herself would be drowned in a creek. Every time she got anywhere near a bridge where she could see or hear rushing water, she panicked as this terrifying thought played through her mind.

I asked Lucy where and when she had seen this event. Lucy explained she had seen this on TV before she came to live with her current human. Lucy had been unable to tell the difference between a TV movie and a real event, and assumed what she was seeing was actually occurring.

At that point in the consultation I turned to Lucy’s human and explained what Lucy had told me. I asked Lucy’s human what she would do if she ever saw anyone drowning kittens or hurting any animal. Lucy’s human said in a resounding tone that she would save the kittens and hurt the man, or call the police to arrest the man. In no way would she ever allow something so horrific to take place in front of her or Lucy.

I explained this to Lucy, assuring her that her human would be able to handle the situation just as I was told. I also explained to Lucy about TV and how sometimes there are things on TV that aren’t true. This was surprising to Lucy, as things looked real on TV and she couldn’t understand why someone would make up something so terrible. Still, she seemed to be reassured that her human now understood what her fear was about.

The following week I heard from Lucy’s human. They had approached the bridge without a lot of fanfare, and though Lucy looked a little worried, she was easily reassured by her human. They crossed the bridge and continued on a carefree walk. The next two times they approached the bridge, Lucy walked right across without hesitation.

Long ago I learned not to guess or to make assumptions why an animal does a particular behavior. More times than not I am wrong because I make those assumptions from my experiences in the world and not from that particular animal’s experiences. People often come up to me and tell me about a behavior going on with their animal and ask what I think is causing it. My standard response is, “We need to ask your animal about that.” Such was the case with Lucy. I might have guessed she wasn’t properly socialized before she came to live with her current human mom, or she felt uncomfortable being on a surface that wasn’t touching the ground. But Lucy told quite a different story.

Another one of my clients, Dixie, was also brought to me for a behavior problem her humans couldn’t understand. Dixie was a gentle 24-year-old mare who loved going out on trail rides. However, Dixie would not tolerate being in a horse trailer. Dixie’s humans had purchased Dixie 8 years ago and told me loading Dixie into a trailer had been a real problem from the beginning. It took several men to force Dixie into the trailer, and she would then stomp and thrash and hurt herself while riding in the trailer. As soon as Dixie got to the location where her humans were trail riding her, and was led out of the trailer, Dixie returned to her calm state and was a delight to be with. Dixie’s humans couldn’t understand what the problem was with the trailer. They had tried feeding Dixie in the trailer when it was parked to make it more appealing. They had tried sedating Dixie so she would be less anxious while in the trailer. Dixie’s humans concluded that Dixie hadn’t been introduced to a trailer in a safe way and didn’t know how to undo the damage.

I spoke with Dixie and asked her if she had always been worried in horse trailers. Dixie told me she use to love going into the trailer because it always meant coming out at pretty place to ride. Prior to coming to live with her current humans, she was once put in a trailer by people she didn’t know very well, and the way they drove made her lose her balance and hurt herself. These people had never stopped to check on her until they arrived at their destination, so Dixie had been both hurt and alone in a horse trailer. Understandably, now Dixie thought horse trailers were unsafe and she both didn’t want to get into one and if she was forced in, she wanted to make sure someone was aware she was there, hence the stomping and thrashing around.

I asked Dixie if she trusted her current humans. She said she did. I then asked Dixie if she were able to watch her humans check out the trailer to make sure it was safe before she went inside, and if her humans stopped along the way while they were driving to check to see if she were still safe, would that make her feel more comfortable about getting into the trailer? She told me she thought those assurances might help her. I explained this to her humans, and we then walked Dixie up to the trailer. I held onto her as we watched her humans inspect the horse trailer to see if it was safe inside and out. Then I asked Dixie if there was anything else she needed looked at, and she said no. I explained again that her humans were simply going to lead her into the safe trailer and that they would stop several times on the drive to make sure she was okay. I handed the lead rope over to one of Dixie’s people and Dixie followed right into the trailer and stood there quietly. Her humans closed the doors as they reassured Dixie they would check on her soon. Then they took off on their trip.

I got a call the next day from Dixie’s humans telling me they had indeed stopped several times to check on her during the drive and each time she was standing calmly in the trailer. There was no thrashing or stomping during the entire drive. Her humans did the exact same procedure on the way home, and Dixie stepped right into the trailer.

Our animals don’t act out or do things wrong just to annoy us. They have reasons for the way they behave, even if we can’t initially understand what those reasons are.
© Polly Klein 2003. Polly Klein, owner of Tonglen Healing Arts for Animals, is an animal communicator, Reiki Master and Certified Animal CranioSacral Therapist.